Scientists make 10 piglets glow green

Published On: Dec 27 2013 12:12:17 PM CST

University of Hawai?i at M?noa

It's easy being green for 10 piglets in China.

Ten pigs born this year in Southern China's Guangdong Province -- including six born since August -- glow with a green tint when held under a blacklight, according to University of Hawai?i at M?noa. This wasn't a strange abnormality -- scientists made them glow on purpose.

Scientists at South China Agricultural University used a method developed at the University of Hawiaii to transfer plasmidscontaining a fluorescent protein from jellyfish DNA to pig embryos, according to the Hawaiian university.

The green glow is a sign the proteins were successfully made part of the pigs' DNA. It doesn't harm the animals, the scientists said.

The ultimate goal of the research is to create cheaper, more efficient medicines.

"[For] patients who suffer from hemophilia and they need the blood-clotting enzymes in their blood, we can make those enzymes a lot cheaper in animals rather than a factory that will cost millions of dollars to build," Dr. Stefan Moisyadi said in the UH press release.